The Charity Commission launched a new initiative in April to engage and inform new trustees of their responsibilities.
All new trustees (whether appointed to existing or newly registered charities) will now receive a welcome pack by email, which provides 'essential information' and 'practical steps' to help trustees fulfil their duties.
The Welcome Pack provides a helpful accompaniment to the Charity Commission's flagship advice to charity trustees, 'The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do (CC3)'. This guidance was also updated in May to note:
- Revised safeguarding guidance: The Charity Commission has expanded the scope of this section to include managing the risks of beneficiaries coming into harm (which includes children) and noting that 'even where work with children or adults at risk does not form part of the core business of the charity, trustees must be alert to their responsibilities to protect from risk of harm those with whom the charity comes into contact.'
- Updates to the automatic disqualification rules: The Charity Commission notes that new reasons for disqualification of trustees will apply from 1 August 2018, for which waiver forms have now been made available. For further information on these changes please see our previous update.
Existing trustees can access the welcome pack online as a reminder of their core duties.
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